1. Field
This disclosure relates to adjusting the contrast in optical systems. In particular, this disclosure relates to adjusting the contrast between an image and the surrounding background.
2. Surrounding Background
Special effects designers use a real image projection system to generate an image of an object. For example, a real image projection system may be used to create a floating real image of an object that appears to an observer from nowhere. Generally, the floating real image is surrounded by a surrounding background. The surrounding background may be intrusive and interfere with observing the floating real image of an object. In this case, it is desirable to remove the surrounding background from the floating real image of an object. Further, present real image projection systems suffer from stray light rays bouncing off the hardware such as the optical elements associated with the real image projection system or the surrounding background such as a ceiling or a floor. The stray light rays are problematic because these rays make the hardware visible to an observer. The viewing of the hardware may ruin the perception of an observer of the floating real image of the object.
A common way of addressing these above problems is to make the enclosure black, such as using black velvet, so that reflected light and stray light rays are absorbed and appear invisible to an observer. However, there is a need for an improved process for producing images that highly contrast to the surrounding background and provide other improvements over present systems.